Chapter Ninety-Nine: Oath-Taking and Banner-Raising

A deep, resonant beat of war drums rolled out.

Within a tent of the Right Guard, the officers gathered together: the Deputy Commander He Yuejing, the Chief Clerk Duan Lun, the Marshal Lu Dechao, the Registrar Ji Tong, the Secretary Du Shanguo, the Quartermaster Zhao Qinghe, the Arms Officer Ye Su, the Cavalry Officer Gu Changshun, the Armored Officer Pei Wenyong, and the Rites Officer Tao Donghai.

The son-in-law to the emperor, Duan Lun, sat high in the chief seat, sipping tea with leisurely composure. The Deputy Commander, He Yuejing, secretly lifted the tent flap to watch Chen Ying on the drill ground.

Heavy clouds had gathered in the sky, and snow began to fall. White flakes drifted down in dense succession. Chen Ying stood motionless on the Right Guard’s drill field, like a statue. Snow settled upon his armor, slowly veiling its original color.

He Yuejing said with a bitter face, “Duan, that is enough. Don’t make this too ugly. We are all being left without a way down!”

Duan Lun remained unmoved, contempt still glittering in his eyes.

Marshal Lu Dechao, frowning in distress, said to Duan Lun, “Son-in-law, do tell us what is to be done. The first drum will soon be finished. If you keep delaying and Chen Ying’s stubborn temper flares, and he drags us out to enforce military law, what then?”

Lu Dechao was about forty, with a narrow face, a pointed chin, and a sickly yellow complexion. In the Sui dynasty he had served as a lowly warehouse clerk in the Ministry of War. After Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, he found a chance to attach himself to Pei Ji’s household and seize an opportunity for advancement. Rising from a seventh-rank clerk to a fourth-rank marshal, he had thought at last to see the summit of his life’s glory. Who could have imagined that before this fourth-rank post had even grown warm, such calamity would befall him?

His promotion had not come easily. He dared not offend the son-in-law of the emperor, Duan Lun, yet he likewise did not dare offend Chen Ying. Long before the imperial edict had even left the inner palace, they had investigated Chen Ying thoroughly. They had learned all of it: his ambiguous ties with Princess Pingyang, his enmity with Su Hu, his discord with Chai Shao.

The more they investigated, the more shocking it became. Chen Ying had certainly benefited from luck along the way, but there was no denying that he possessed real skill. More than that, he was a man who dared to kill. When he was promoted to be the Founding Merit Brigade Commander of the Right Guard, he asserted his authority at once by using the son of a meritorious veteran, Duan Zhigan, the son of Duan Yanshi.

Though Duan Yanshi’s office was not high, merely provincial governor of the fourth rank, upper grade, the key point was that he had once served as Li Yuan’s writing assistant and enjoyed the right to submit memorials directly to the throne. Tang China had ten circuits and three hundred and sixty prefectures, yet fewer than one in ten prefects possessed direct memorializing rights. Chen Ying, however, did not care a whit. He established his authority all the same. The result? Nothing happened to him.

Lu Dechao’s rank might have been higher than Duan Zhigan’s, but his patronage was nowhere near as formidable as Duan Zhigan’s. Duan Zhigan not only had a father who was a fourth-rank provincial governor, but Duan Yanshi’s connections were also broad; whether it was the Left Assistant Chancellor Pei Ji or the Right Assistant Chancellor Liu Wenjing, both owed him some measure of goodwill.

As for Lu Dechao himself, he was nothing more than a minor official in charge of warehouses and had no real ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Pressed to the point of irritation, he merely waved a hand and said, “Enforce the law? How are you supposed to enforce it? If we are all executed, will that brat Chen Ying go onto the battlefield alone?”

The Registrar Ji Tong, like Lu Dechao, was a small official with no backing to rely on, yet unlike the other man, he sat with the calm of an ancient well, as if in the stillness of a meditating monk. Seeing that Duan Lun ignored him, Lu Dechao lowered his voice and said, “Old Ji, look at this!”

Ji Tong said solemnly, “Marshal Lu, remember this: the law does not punish the multitude.”

“Ah!” Lu Dechao instantly understood.

That was a peculiarity of feudal times. Right now, aside from the Left Deputy Commander Gao Yunquan, all the officers and attendants of the Right Guard were gathered here. Missing roll call meant death by law. Yet Chen Ying could not possibly slaughter the entire Right Guard headquarters. In the end, aside from Chen Ying making a fool of himself, nothing would be achieved.

Secretary Du Shanguo was sweating fine beads of perspiration. He too had some backing, having been born of the Du clan of the capital. Though only a branch-line descendant, he still had the powerful Du family behind him. Yet for some reason, whenever Chen Ying came to mind, what surfaced involuntarily in his head were the heads carted into Chang'an by the wagonload.

Du Shanguo seemed to have made up his mind and was just preparing to step outside the tent.

“Secretary Du, be calm. Even if Chen Ying had ten times the courage, he would not dare execute people on the spot. Could he really wash the Right Guard in blood?” Duan Lun said patiently in a low voice to the terrified Du Shanguo. Frowning slightly, he added, “If you do not believe me, then wait and see. Let us see whether Chen Ying dares to take my head.”

“Why is the son-in-law so certain?” He Yuejing narrowed his eyes at Duan Lun and said in a cool, ambiguous tone, “You are the emperor’s son-in-law, with jade and gold behind you. And do not forget, the Crown Prince as well. This matter of missing roll call may be grave, or it may be nothing much. Whether you, Son-in-law Duan, can bear the responsibility, I do not know. I certainly cannot. If you men wish to make trouble, then by all means, go on making it. I, He, will not throw myself against a cart with an egg in my hand. I shall go now and answer the roll. Whether I am beaten or killed in the future, that will be as you please…”

With that, He Yuejing no longer looked at Duan Lun, but lifted the tent flap and walked toward the drill ground.

He Yuejing was no fool. To offend Duan Lun meant danger for his prospects, but to offend Chen Ying meant immediate peril to his life. No one could say for certain, but He Yuejing knew it clearly: if Chen Ying wanted to kill someone, he would absolutely not hesitate.

And yet after He Yuejing left, Lu Dechao also rose, cupped his fists toward Duan Lun, and departed with a turn of his robe.

Watching He Yuejing and Lu Dechao leave one after another, Wei Jingbei, the battalion commander of the Right Guard’s central guard unit, also turned and went out...

Though snowflakes struck his face with a bone-deep chill, Chen Ying’s heart burned with fierce flames. Lingzhou was in urgent military crisis, yet these men behaved so brazenly, merely because he came from a commoner’s line, merely because he lacked aristocratic backing, merely because he did not have a formidable father. They had actually dared to defy the law of the realm and confront him head-on.

“What should I do? Kill them all?”

Chen Ying could not help muttering to himself. The principle that the law does not punish the multitude was a cardinal taboo in officialdom. Even an emperor, when confronted with the resistance of all the ministers, could only choose to yield, let alone him?

Could he truly bow his head to Duan Lun?

Just as the third drum sounded, Gao Yunquan, the Left Deputy Commander of the Crown Prince’s Right Guard, arrived first at the drill ground. Then came the Right Deputy Commander He Yuejing and the Marshal Lu Dechao. Only then did Chen Ying quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

He could not possibly execute every officer of the Right Guard on the charge of missing roll call, but killing a few ringleaders who had stirred up trouble should not be a major matter.

Boom, boom, boom.

As the drums grew louder and louder, more and more of the Right Guard’s officers came to answer roll call on the drill field. By the time the three rounds of drums had ended, the result surprised Chen Ying. He had originally thought the officers of the Right Guard would deliberately humiliate him by making no one appear. Yet before the third summons drum had even finished, all of the Right Guard’s officers, subordinates, and attendants—more than three hundred in all—had reached the drill ground. Even the son-in-law to the emperor and chief clerk of the Right Guard, Duan Lun, had not been late.

Chen Ying looked at the sharp gleam in Duan Lun’s eyes and guessed that this little scheme to embarrass him had probably come from this son-in-law. In Chen Ying’s view, however, Duan Lun’s antics were nothing more than child’s play.

Duan Lun narrowed his eyes at Chen Ying. Looking at that almost perfect handsome face, he could not help wanting to punch it. But that was only a thought. If he actually dared to make a move, the one who would suffer would certainly be himself. Chen Ying was ruthless; once hands were laid on each other, the one at a disadvantage would be him for sure.

Chen Ying’s expression remained as still as water, giving away nothing.

At that moment, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng strode over, and Chen Ying immediately ordered in a deep voice to those on his left and right, “Prepare for the oath-taking and the sacrificial banner rite.”